Cancer for College

Cancer for College founder Craig Pollard and Will Ferrell prepare to play in the 16th Annual
Golf Classic held in San Diego, CA.

At age 15, I was obsessed
with baseball and wanted
to be the first baseman of
the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sometimes
reality intrudes on the best dreams.

As the doctor spoke, none of the
typical thoughts of despair ran through
my mind. I didn’t ask what Hodgkin’s
was or how I would be treated. I didn’t
even ask if I would die. The only
thought that ran through my teenage
mind was whether I’d be able to play
baseball that season. When the doctor
said “no,” I realized the severity
of my situation.

Treatment included nine months of
chemotherapy, three months of radiation,
and surgery that resulted in the
removal of my spleen, appendix, and
several lymph nodes. All the while,
I continued to play baseball and never
took my eye off the goal.

After graduating on time with my
class, I earned a merit scholarship to the
University of Southern California and
signed a national letter-of-intent with
the Trojan baseball program. I had a
girlfriend and was part of the Delta Tau
Delta fraternity. Life was good. Unfortunately,
cancer keeps its own schedule.

The first event in 1993 raised $500 and granted
one scholarship. In 2010, there were more than 70 recipients and over $200,000 awarded.

At 19, the disease reared its ugly head
again, and this time it meant business.
I watched from a hospital bed as my
friends, family, baseball career, and college
experience all seemed to slip away.
One night, I had a conversation with
God and pleaded for my health. In return,
I vowed to make a difference.

After a life-saving bone marrow transplant,
my health returned and the life
I had left behind resumed. I began
my mission by serving as a counselor
at Camp Ronald McDonald for Good
Times, a special place for families with
seriously ill children. The children were
inspired by the fact that I was a survivor
who was attending college. College
gave them hope.

Families dealing with cancer use
every last resource to fight the disease.
Life savings and retirement plans are
drained by co-payments, medications,
and procedures. College dreams are
forsaken in place of staying alive.

I wrote a business plan on a charity
that would provide college scholarships
to cancer survivors. We called it Cancer
for College. I rallied 24 of my closest
friends and family members for a golf
tournament in 1993 and awarded our
first scholarship of $500.

With friends, family, and fraternity
brothers carrying the word to their network
of contacts, Cancer for College
made steady gains, but it was not until
one of my more famous fraternity brothers
got involved that things really took off.

Will Ferrell was a lowly pledge when
we first met. Since then, he has established
himself as an international
superstar. Will participated in a handful
of the early events before he took
off for New York and landed on the set
of Saturday Night Live. As Will’s fame
grew, so too did his ability to participate.
He saw firsthand the impact that Cancer
for College had on the lives of kids with
cancer. Will now serves as celebrity
host for our fundraising events and
calls Cancer for College “one of the
purest charities he has ever seen.”

Part of being a survivor is being ready
for new challenges. Like many cancer
survivors, treatments left me with a compromised
immune system. One day I
went to work and began to feel the
effects of what I thought was a cold.
I quickly decided to go home for some
rest, but I barely made it.

Life is often about making trade-offs.
The medication used to maintain my
blood pressure and ultimately save
my life had an alarming side effect. It
caused my extremities to swell beyond
recognition. Gangrene set in. Doctors
suggested amputation.

Both of my feet were taken just above
the ankle, but I refused to let it keep
me down. At the 2006 Cancer for College
golf tournament, only six months
after losing my feet, I played golf in
my prosthetics, and we granted our first
scholarship to an amputee.

Cancer for College now stages multiple
events around the country, including
the golf tournament now in its 18th year.
We have granted more than one million
dollars to over 750 survivors. It also
proves that you can overcome this disease
and make a difference.